PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Team is taking heavy casualites

Monday

Aug 22, 2016 at 12:56 AMAug 22, 2016 at 1:00 AM

Running back Dion Lewis will reportedly need a cleanup procedure performed on his left knee. Offenive tackle Sebastian Vollmer is reportedly headed to the injured reserve list, while guard Shaq Mason is said to have a broken hand.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – Coach Bill Belichick now knows how General George Washington felt during the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge.

His Patriots are taking heavy casualties.

The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride was first to report Sunday that running back Dion Lewis, who underwent surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the Patriots’ 27-10 win over the Washington Redskins at Gillette Stadium last Nov. 8, will require a cleanup procedure on the left knee.

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport subsequently reported that a two-month recovery period is expected for Lewis.

After signing with the Patriots as a free agent, Lewis made a sudden impact in his first year with the team, catching 36 passes for 388 yards (10.3 yards per reception) and two touchdowns and carrying the ball 49 times for 234 yards (a 4.8-yard average) and two TDs in the seven games in which he appeared before he was lost for the season.

The Patriots had Lewis out on the field at their last spring practice in June, but when training camp opened in July he was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list.

With Lewis down, running back James White will be asked to step up. While a threat as a pass catcher, White is a shadow of Lewis in the running game, a fact reflected in his woeful 2.5 yards-per-carry average in 2015.

The bad news for the Patriots didn’t begin and end with Lewis.

Citing a league source, McBride also reported that offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who is also on the PUP list, is likely headed to injured reserve (according to Rapaport, Vollmer is coming off shoulder surgery), his season possibly over before it began, and that Shaq Mason is nursing a broken hand.

Lacking Vollmer, Marcus Cannon will continue to hold down the starting right tackle position for the team.

For what it’s worth, note that, effective this year, teams no longer have to designate a player as “eligible to return” upon placing a player on IR, they simply can choose one player who has been on the list and activate him if he is deemed healthy enough to play after eight weeks.

As for Mason, after starting the Patriots’ 34-22 preseason-opening win over New Orleans at right guard he was mysteriously missing in action for last Thursday night’s 23-22 preseason victory over Chicago (Josh Kline was plugged in at right guard).

Misery truly loves company in the Patriots’ offensive line this summer.

Guard Tre’ Jackson (knee) is on the PUP list and Jonathan Cooper, who opened camp as the starter at right guard, didn’t make it through the first weekend of camp before he went down with a foot injury that’s kept him off the field since.

Brady excused: Comcast SportsNet’s Tom E. Curran reported that Tom Brady was excused from the stadium as the team reported back to work on Sunday and will again be excused on Monday.

According to the report, the quarterback’s absences are “not injury related,” however.

Brady, who of course must sit out the first four games of the regular season as he serves his league-imposed suspension in the aftermath of Deflategate, was also excused from the team’s preseason opener to attend a memorial service. He then sat out last Thursday night’s preseason affair with the Bears after reportedly slicing his right thumb with a pair of scissors in a pregame mishap.

Agent reports client cut: Agent David Canter tweeted that his client, safety Cedric Thompson, has been informed of his release by the Patriots.

The 6-foot, 210-pounder was signed by the Patriots to their practice squad on Jan. 12. He was originally selected by the Miami Dolphins out of Minnesota in the fifth round of the 2015 draft.

Ironman ailing: The Patriots’ ironman has a dent in him.

“It’s really hard,” defensive end Rob Ninkovich said of the torn triceps he suffered on Aug. 9. “I haven’t had to deal with anything like this in a long time so (I’m) just trying to work as hard as I can, just trying to work and do the only thing I know how to do and that’s try to work hard to get back.”

Ninkovich hasn’t sat out a Patriots regular-season or postseason game since 2009 when he missed just one in his initial year with the team. He’s started every one of the team’s games in each of the past five seasons.

Ninkovich declined to give any timetable for his return, saying: “I’m just going to try to take it day by day.”

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